In the context of ever-increasing premiums for important domain names, the differences between the Indian dispute resolution policy and international norms are a cause for concern, as Pravin Anand and Raunaq Kamath explain.

With domain names like Insure.com selling for $16 million, it is clear that the value of online real estate has increased dramatically. Cybersquatters all over the world are registering domain names in bulk, a presumably easy way to ensure a quick profit. Rights holders are, therefore, increasingly resorting to dispute resolution mechanisms to recover domain names.

Domain name disputes pertaining to a generic top-level domain (gTLD) name are governed by the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP). These disputes are entertained by a dispute resolution service provider approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and National Arbitration Forum (NAF).

A domain name dispute concerning the country code TLD (ccTLD) name for India (.in) is governed by the .IN Dispute Resolution Policy (INDRP) and is overseen by the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI).